Smoking On The Rooftops
by hazelle
Summary: Movieverse. BettyPeter FRIENDSHIP ONLY. Set during Spiderman 1, Betty takes a break from work and goes up to the Bugle's rooftop, but finds more than she bargained for... FINISHED!
1. Close Encounter of the Arachnid Kind

**Heya! I know I've been neglecting you all by not updating 'Surprise, Surprise!' for absolutely ages, so I'm very sorry, but I've been very busy with coursework and had a _touch_ of writers block with it. Don't worry, it's half term soon and then I'll have plenty of time to write! :P**

**I wrote this very quickly this afternoon when I should have been doing homework, but the idea jumped into my mind and refused to go away until I'd written the first chapter. Basically, it's Betty/Peter FRIENDSHIP ONLY, and it's plotless, pointless, and fluffy.**

**Oh yeah, it's set during Spider-man 1, after the Oscorp festival but before Peter's defeated the Green Goblin, so Spider-man is still regarded as a mystery.**

**Please read and review!**

**Smoking On The Rooftops**

**Part 1**

Betty Brant cursed as she tripped over the last step to the smoking area on the Bugle's roof top. "Stupid stilettos..." She muttered, remembering the times before she'd stumbled in her pretty but impractical shoes. She pushed the little door open, minding to bend her head. She'd learned her lesson on that account, more times than she cared to count had she banged her head on the low doorframe.

Sighing, she fished her lighter out of her trench coat pocket and stuck a cigarette in her mouth without bothering to look up. It was always the same old. Smoke billowing from the chimneys, casting the Bugle's roof in a hazy cloud, in the far distance the sun going down, shining purple rays upon the granite floor. Amazing, at first glance, but Betty had been working at the Bugle for going on 6 years now, and smoking even longer.

Frowning as her cigarette failed to light, she made her way around the small raised staircase and the lighter promptly dropped out of her limp hand and the cigarette out her open mouth.

Spider-man was sitting perched on the very edge of the roof top, looking out at the sunset, seeming to be perfectly content until she dropped her things and his head whipped round to stare her in the eyes.

She stood, frozen in place by... was it fear? Shock? Or awe maybe?

Then his hand travelled up to his neck and rubbed it, before he climbed down from the ledge and stood up. She recoiled at the motion, back pedalling to gain some distance from the anonymous vigilante. He took a quick step forward, bringing his hand up to her in what he intended to be a placating manner, but to her, brainwashed by months of Jameson's propaganda, it seemed direct and threatening.

Forgetting her packet of cigarettes and lighter, she slowly reached for the structure behind her, keeping her eyes on Spider-man all the while.

"Stay back!" She whispered fiercely, and he recoiled a little at her harsh words, shoulders slumping.

Spider-man stepped back to the very edge again reluctantly. "I won't hurt you..." he spoke for the first time, very softly as if he was talking to a frightened animal.

Betty froze, she stopped edging towards her escape, but she didn't make any move towards Spider-man, either. Truthfully, she had expected Spider-man to lunge upon her and drag her off to his secret web nest; not that she had even expected to meet the legendary Spider-man at all.

She was sceptic at the best of times, so seeing the costumed vigilante so suddenly when for nearly a year she had been disbelieving of the stories, came as a bit of a shock to her.

"I just... I just came up to watch the sunset." He started hesitantly, trying to break the ice. More like arctic circle, Peter thought wryly, as she gave him an odd look and didn't reply.

Betty stared at the man in red and blue spandex who'd just told her he 'just came up to watch the sunset' like he was from another planet.

"What?" She said finally, sure she'd misheard.

"It's nice up here." He offered after a pause. "Isn't that why you came up here?" He added, not knowing what else to say.

Betty's eyes flicked down to the items she'd dropped in her surprise, and he nodded in understanding.

"Ah. Smoking's bad for your health, you know." He said conversationally, and with that, turned back to watching the sunset.

Betty stared at his back for a long while, wavering, before slowly bending down and picking up her pack and lighter. She very gingerly walked closer to the superhero, and stood beside him. Granted, it was several metres away, but it was a start, Peter thought to himself.

He glanced over at her and smiled, but she didn't look at him. So, careful not to startle her, he slowly sat down on the ledge, in his traditional spider's crouch. She followed his lead and dangled her legs over the side.

They just sat in silence for a few minutes, getting used to the rhythm of each others breathing.

Then, "Your Friendly Neighbourhood Spider-man." Peter offered her a hand.

Betty stared at him for a moment then a cautious smile spread across her face and she shook it. "Betty Brant. Nice to meet you."

"Ditto." Peter smiled beneath his mask, pleased she had calmed down.

"So." He said.

"So." She said.

There was a long awkward pause then-

"Do you work here?"

"Are you for real?"

"Huh?"

"Huh?"

There was another awkward pause, then Peter said gentlemanly, "You go first."

"Ok," Betty swallowed nervously. "Are you for real?" She hastily began to explain at his look. "I mean, I just came up here for a smoke and I find a man dressed in a funny Spider-man costume, sitting on a ledge and looking about ready to jump. You, uh, are the real deal, right?"

"By 'real deal', do you mean this?" He glanced about then saw a handy flagpole. Grinning, he back flipped up the pole to grip at the top with only the tips of his toes and fingers. He paused then somersaulted back down into his original position as Betty gaped.

Uncomfortable under her gaze he cleared his throat and said, "And what do you mean by 'funny Spider-man costume'?" he looked down at himself. "I think it's pretty funky, personally."

Betty realised she was staring and quickly shut her mouth, Regaining her composure she said, "Well, it's a little... loud."

"I guess," he mused thoughtfully. "They're my favourite colours, though".

"So... you have a favourite colour and stuff?" She ventured, wondering how much she could get out of him without him clamming up. Which didn't turn out to be much.

"And stuff," he repeated, and seemed to want to leave it at that. Betty took the hint.

"Now for my question: What are you doing up here? I mean do you work here or something?" Score 1 for the acting Peter, he thought to himself.

"Yeh, I'm JJ's secretary, actually." She replied.

"Ah, good ol' JJ. Wait, he lets you take a break?" He asked, puzzled. He'd heard Betty complain about how Jameson never slacked off, and never let any of his employees slack off either.

"Um, well, no," Betty blushed slightly under his scrutinising gaze. "I kinda sneak up here for a few minutes of peace and quiet." At that, she remembered the real reason why she'd come up there, and lit a cigarette.

Peter frowned at her. "Those are bad for you, you know." He commented.

"My mother smoked like a chimney. I guess I got it from her." She explained, then raised an eyebrow. "So what, you're the health nut now too?" She shot back.

He put his hands up in the air and backed off. "Hey, I'm just a guy in blue tights." She laughed at that, then smiled at him in wonder.

"You know, you're one of a kind. I always thought you were what Jameson made you out to be, but after-" she paused and checked her watch, "-after only ten minutes of talking to you, I realise you're an ok guy."

"Gee, thanks for your seal of approval." Peter said, letting the sarcasm drip from the words like molasses.

She laughed lightly again, then stood up and stretched. "You know what I meant." She told him, then turned her back on him and headed for the staircase.

He watched her go, and she called back over her shoulder before starting down the stairs, "I guess I'll see ya around sometime. My 'break' is between 12 and 1, just so you know."

**End of Part 1**

**Yes, I know this would never happen. Like I said, it's pointless, but I had fun writing it. :) Review if you liked it, and I'll post the next chapter when I've written it! :D**

**AN for Surprise, Surprise!:**

**Sorrow1: You'll see soon enough. And when did I write Jameson leaving his office with a copy of the newspaper?**

**Brynn: Did you get my e-mail?**

**Mary Jane Watson-Parker: Well done for the A!**

**Gloomie daImproved Pot: Eddie followed Peter when he came out of the Bugle and took a photo of him changing... I think it's in chapter 4, I didn't directly say he took photos but I left it to peoples imagination.**

**Thanks to everyone who reviewed! :D**

****


	2. To Poke a Sleeping Dragon in the Eye

**Hey! I've finally got around to updating this story, I'm really sorry it was so long in coming and I hope the contents makes up for the wait! If you think so, please review! :P**

**Smoking On The Rooftops**

**Part 2: To Poke a Sleeping Dragon in the Eye**

"Hey Betty," Peter said, a touch more nervous than usual. It was only yesterday that he'd met Betty for the 'first' time as Spider-man, and they'd actually managed to hold a decent conversation for ten minutes or so. Now he was back to plain old Peter Parker, back to being treated like something rather disgusting on the underside of Betty's shoe that she'd stepped on earlier.

Betty Brant spared the young photographer beside her a glance, then sighed as if having to talk to him was like being asked to scrape the thing she'd stepped on earlier off her shoe with her bare hands. So, she delayed the inevitable and finished dialling a number into her phone with the lid of her pen.

Peter waited patiently as she was connected and said cheerily, "Good morning, this is Betty Brant from the Daily Bugle, yes, yes of course I'll hold…take as long as you want…" She flipped off the lid of her pen and started doodling idly on a scrap piece of paper as she waited, completely ignoring Peter. It was worse than when they'd first met, not 3 months ago. She'd been vaguely polite then, after all they were complete strangers. But as they'd come to know each other, Betty became more and more… familiar… with him, and didn't mind making him wait. Peter wondered if it was just him, and if he'd done something to offend her. He thought back over the last 3 months and came up with nothing, besides the occasional dumb comment at which she'd rolled her eyes. Perhaps that was it, perhaps his sense of humour was too much for her. But no, she'd laughed at Spider-man's jokes, so why not Peter Parker's?

"Hello, this is Betty Brant from the Daily Bugle, I was wondering if you'd be interested in doing an interview for-" Betty stopped speaking abruptly as the dial tone coming through the receiver signalled that the person on the other end of the line had cut her off. Muttering, she slammed the phone down and turned to Peter.

"Yes?" She said brusquely, without so much as a hello.

"Hi Betty." Peter sighed, and handed her the note from Jameson. Now he could see why she was always so annoyed with the world, the world was annoyed with her. He could understand that being stuck in a dead end job such as this one, with people jabbering at you all the time, could make your view of the world cynical at best, but that didn't mean she had to take out her frustration out on him. He sighed and decided to bite his tongue, figuring that was better than having his head bitten off.

"Here." Betty thrust the check under his nose and didn't wait for him to take it. It fluttered to the floor, and Peter quickly bent to retrieve it. When he looked up, Betty was disappearing up the stairway to the Bugle's roof, pulling her coat on as she slipped around the corner. Glancing back into Jameson's office, Peter saw he was busy arguing with Robbie, and so quickly followed her, at a safe distance, up the stairs.

Quiet as a mouse, he peeked his head around the doorframe, and saw Betty stomping to her usual seat at the edge of the roof, trying to light her cigarette. He hastily ducked around the corner of the stairwell, and, safely out of view behind the small building, he reached into his backpack for the famous red and blue material.

A few seconds later, Spider-man swung down seemingly from nowhere and startled Betty into dropping her lighter.

"Hey!" She shouted, an annoyed frown creasing her forehead as she watched the lighter tumble down to the road below. She was going to use this as an excuse to shout at someone, never minding that he was Spider-man, when he shot out a webline, quick as a flash, and reeled the lighter back into his hands. "Sorry." He apologised and handed her the object.

She sighed and lit her cigarette, deigning not to reply. She sat back down and drew her coat around her as the wind picked up. "Thanks." Betty said begrudgingly, a few minutes later.

"No problem." He replied, taking the unspoken invitation to sit down. He crossed his legs.

After a while the silence normally punctuated by Spider-man's jokes became so unbearable that even the stoic Betty Brant couldn't take another minute of it, and forced herself to start the conversation.

"So, you, uh, been busy today?" She asked, kicking herself inwardly for being such a bad conversationist.

"Uh-huh." He answered shortly and didn't elaborate.

"Right, well, I um, I guess you're busy everyday, right?" She valiantly continued.

"Yes." Spider-man replied and fell silent again.

Betty waited for a few minutes, feeling her patience truly being tested before she burst out, "What's _wrong_ with you today?!"

"What?" He asked calmly, with an air of surprise, though he knew full well what she was referring to.

"Grr, _that_!" She retorted. "I'm going out on a limb here for you and all you can do to keep conversation going is grunt, or… or…"

"Reply with a one word answer?" Spider-man offered helpfully.

"_Yes!_"

"I'm in a bad mood." He said as if that explained his attitude.

"Well so am I but you don't see me taking out _my_ frustration on _you!_" Betty said angrily.

"Then who _do_ you take it out on?" He shot back, knowing he was treading on dangerous territory, but finding he didn't care. He could feel his own anger at being treated so unfairly rise to the surface.

She instantly fell silent at that and her mouth snapped shut. Spider-man stood up and walked away from her, trying to calm down. Shouting wouldn't do anyone a bit of good. Betty's shoulders slumped with guilt as Peter Parker's face jumped instantly into her mind at Spider-man's question. She'd behaved atrociously in the last few months she'd known him, and it was only now that Spider-man had questioned her behaviour had she come to doubt it. Spider-man felt his anger lessen slightly, then the guilt of how he'd just spoken to her brought it down from the boil. Her shouldn't have behaved so callously even if she had treated him in the same manner in the past. Two wrongs didn't make a right, he reminded himself.

Almost ten minutes passed in contemplative thought before Spider-man cautiously sat back down beside her.

"I'm sorry." They said simultaneously, then laughed, releasing the tension from the air. They continued chatting in much the same way they had when they'd last met, each studiously avoiding upsetting the other by not mentioning the argument.

"So, what exactly do you do at the Bugle?" He asked, broaching level ground.

"I'm the person who gives out checks, organises Jameson's day and gets treated like a piece of… well I'm pretty sure you can guess how I'm treated when I have to interrupt one of Jameson's tirades to tell him his wife doesn't know whether to go for the silk of chiffon in the dining room." She said, smiling bitterly.

"Why don't you quit?" He said curiously. He'd never really known why Betty, with her fiery personality, had chosen to put up with being treated in that way when she could easily walk out the door.

She looked away, and for the first time since Peter had known her he got the impression she was embarrassed.

"Well… I hate being out of work… and… Robbie offered me the job… not Jameson, and we've been friends for nearly forever… I jumped at the chance, 'cause I didn't have a job at the time and to be honest it wasn't likely that I would get anywhere special with the grades I got in school." She started out hesitantly, but found it got easier if she said it quickly.

Spider-man obviously didn't know what to say. So he just said, "Oh." And left it at that.

"So, um, are you planning on going on holiday this year?" Spider-man asked without really knowing why. However, Betty seized upon the topic with relish and it lasted them until the sun disappeared behind a particularly huge skyscraper.

Eventually Betty worked up the nerve to 'subtly' bring up the topic of his being a superhero.

"So, I heard the Green Goblin is around." She said lamely.

"Yes, he's 'around'." Spider-man replied darkly. "It's just where exactly which is the problem."

"So, I also heard that you two are working together." Betty said after a long pause and immediately regretted it.

"Then you heard wrong." He snapped, glancing at her.

"Hey it's just what I heard." She defended herself. "I didn't say I believed it."

"Yet you still had to bring the subject up to make sure, is that it?" He retorted, shifting positions and looking at her intently.

"No, I just… I just… fine I give in I was curious, okay?!" She huffed.

"_Everyone_ is curious." Spider-man replied tiredly, his anger abating as suddenly as it came. He looked out across the city. "_Everyone_ wants to poke and prod and rant and rave and charge and condemn."

"I'm sorry." Betty said quietly. "I don't know how… I don't know what it's like but I can imagine it's pretty damn horrid for you."

He simply sighed and looked at her. "Yeah. You can imagine it is."

**End of Part 2**

**-**

**diggerthedirtyhorse: Thanks and here it is!**

**Jenn1: Thanks, Spidey talks about MJ in the next chapter I think. :)**

**Emily M. Hanson: Thanks!**

**Spyder616: Thanks, glad you like.**

**LordLanceahlot: Hope you like this chapter as well and thanks!**

**closetfan: Aww thanks! That's really nice to hear!**

**WhoxAmI: Thanks, did you get my email? Haven't heard from you in a while...**

**Kirsten-B: Sorry for the delay, thanks and here it is!**

**lovedoves: Thanks, that's what I was going for. :)**

**PureEvilOne: Thanks!**

**C.D Anders: Thanks, hope this chapter doesn't disappoint!**

**Kimberly Ann Stoppable: Does your name ever stop changing? ;) Thanks for the grade, I appreaciate it!**

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**jjonahjameson: Thanks, it's not a short scene anymore though! Mwahaha! Heh, don't know why I did that. Also thanks for reviewing some of my other stories!**

**-**

**In case you're wondering, there are 3 more chapters, not including this one, and all are written but not yet checked for mistakes and gaping plot holes. Tune in next time, when some more stuff happens that's more interesting than the stuff that happened in this chapter! :D**


	3. Adding Injury To Insult

**Hi everyone, I'm sorry I haven't updated till now, I was planning on posting this like a week ago but my hamster died recently so I'm not feeling too good right now. I really don't feel like doing anything much, when I do I'll get back into the swing of reading and reviewing so sorry again. I'm sure I'll enjoy the stories much more when I'm in a better mood. For now, here's the next part.**

**Smoking On The Rooftops**

**Part 3: Adding Injury to Insult**

Frost crackled underfoot as the solitary figure made her way across the foggy rooftop. Her breath clouded in front of her face, adding to the distortion caused by the swirling mist. The sun was just peaking above the horizon, fighting to maintain its dim light until the last possible second before the moon took its place and ruled the night.

Betty Brant noticed none of these things. She was intent on her thoughts, which had become somewhat unclear in the last few days that she'd been talking to Spider-man on this very rooftop. Wondering what Jameson would say if he knew, a smile came to her frostbitten lips as she imagined the exact expression on her employer's face. Meeting with the very object of his cause for irritation satisfied Betty. She felt like she was fighting back, misbehaving under his nose and getting away with murder, figuratively speaking.

Her self-satisfied smile quickly faded and her expression turned swiftly to one of horror as for a second the smog parted to reveal Spider-man laying prone, crimson staining the patch of ice around him.

"Oh my God!"

Betty rushed forward, discarding her lighter and the cigarette she'd been about to light. She kneeled beside him; he was lying on his side, head thrown away from her. Fearing the worst, she very slowly reached out and rolled him over onto his back. He grunted slightly and Betty clutched her heart in relief.

"Spider-man?" She said, an unmistakeable quaver in her voice.

"Huh?" He said groggily. Opening his eyes beneath the opaque eyepieces, he started as he saw Betty's face looming over him.

"Ouch- ow, don't do that!" He yelped, and gingerly sat up, with her help.

"What happened?" She asked him quickly. "Where does it hurt the most?"

"Other than everywhere, I would say here." He held up his right arm, and Betty gasped as she saw a strangely x-shaped cut that ran the length of his forearm, bleeding profusely.

"Oh God, oh God, what do I do!" She asked him, obviously panicking.

"A bandage… would be good." Spider-man replied tiredly, slurring his words a little from fatigue. This only caused Betty to go into a worse state of shock.

"A bandage- a bandage right. Right." She stood up and looked around her as if expecting a bandage to handily appear from midair. When she realised that was _not_ going to happen she frantically turned back to him. "Where do I get a bandage!"

But he'd lain down in the few seconds she'd looked away, and seemed to have fallen asleep again. She stared at him for a few seconds then ran back for the door down to the news room, slipping and sliding and swearing as she went.

Betty attracted a fair few stares as she slammed the door open and stood shivering in the doorway, before coming to her senses and much more discreetly heading towards the store cupboard. Rooting through the piles of paperclips and dusty staplers, she finally found what she was looking for. An ancient first aid kit that the Federation for Employees Health and Safety had forced Jameson to invest in after seeing the state of his newsroom.

"Miss. Brant!"

Heart jumping into her throat she span round with a stapler in one hand and the first aid kit in the other.

"What are you doing?" Jameson asked in a voice of deadly calm.

"Um, I just, I just cut my finger, so I was just… um… getting a plaster, yes that's it I was getting a plaster!" She explained with a slightly hysterical tone to her voice.

"Then Miss. Brant?" He said, again strangely calm.

"Yes?" She replied tremulously. Every second she wasted here was one less that Spider-man would be getting the help he needed.

"_DO IT QUIETLY! _And _stop_ waving that stapler around!" And with that Jameson turned on his heel and stalked back to his office.

"Right." Betty sighed softly, then thrust the stapler back into the cupboard, making sure to close it quietly, before high-tailing it across the room.

She was just about to creep up the stairs and close the door softly behind her when the sounds of Jameson shouting at some poor unsuspecting worker caught her attention. On a spur of the moment decision she slammed the door shut with as much force as she could muster, and ignored the increased volume of Jameson's shouting at the noise.

Again skidding across the rooftop ungracefully, she found Spider-man was in much the same condition as he was before. Without waiting to stop running she tore the lid off the kit and slid to a halt next to his body. He didn't stir at the racket she made rooting around in the bottom of the box, but when she gingerly began to drop liquid antiseptic into the wound he hissed and moved. She paused then continued with her work as he didn't complain, in fact she didn't even know he was awake until she'd finished wrapping the gauze and tied it into a neat little bow, and was in the process of clearing the mess she'd made up, when he said, "Thanks. Hope the bow doesn't detract from my manly image."

She jumped and span around from packing the little kit up, and saw he was leaning up on one elbow, inspecting her handiwork thoughtfully.

"I thought you were asleep." Betty replied stolidly, letting a small relieved smile creep to her lips at his attempt at humour. He'd be alright.

"I was until you decided to wake me up with some nasty stingy antiseptic."

Her smile grew wider, and she finished rolling the remainder of the bandage up before shoving it into the box and shutting it firmly. "Nasty stingy? I'm glad you're ok, and your vocabulary should come back in a few hours as well."

"Very funny." He replied, trying not to yawn. Slowly pushing himself into a sitting position he stretched out his legs. "Brrr. Never try lying on frost in winter, especially wearing only this."

At that she laughed a little, and stretching out beside him, decided the first aid kit could wait a few more minutes before being returned to its musty home. "You must be cold. You can have my coat if you want, I've got another 4 layers underneath."

"No thanks, I think the bow's another to be going on with without a lady's coat." Spider-man answered and she laughed again.

"Are you really injured at all?" Betty asked him, referring to the way he kept cracking admittedly bad jokes all the time.

"Yeah, so does that mean I can't be entertaining? Or would you rather I went back to sleep?" He said, trying to muster some humour into his voice.

Betty just rolled her eyes in an air of long suffering. "So what happened anyway?"

"You want the long version or the short version?"

Checking her watch, she said regretfully, "Short version. I better get back to work soon."

"Ok, Goblin me fight me no win me hurt me come here the end." He said with a dead serious tone, and Betty could guess a completely straight face.

She rolled her eyes again. "Fine, I'll pick invisible option number 3, the medium length version."

"Ok, the Goblin and I fought in the street after he'd been terrorising a few pedestrians, he threw some razor bats at me and I couldn't get out of the way of all of them, he flew off when the police turned up and I swung here." Spider-man explained in a bit more detail, giving in to exhaustion and closing his eyes beneath the mask.

"You came here first?" Betty repeated in surprise. "But, why?"

"You were the closest person from where we fought who wouldn't chuck me off a building." He said quietly, glancing up at her.

"Who says I wouldn't?" She said, with a deadly serious face.

He smiled weakly at her, not bothering to think of a witty come-back, then laid his head back to rest on the concrete structure behind him.

"Hey listen, I've got to get back to work now or I'll be fired, so what are you planning on doing?" Betty said, frowning at her watch again.

"I'll be ok." Spider-man answered shortly. He most definitely didn't want to tell her that he planned on getting changed back into Peter Parker and sneaking down through the Bugle to get home rather than webswing there and risk passing out a hundred feet above the city.

"What's that supposed to mean?" She asked, surveying him with a critical eye.

"It means I'll be just fine here and you better get back to work if you don't want Jameson to blow a coronary or something equally life threatening."

"Then I guess I'll stay here for a while longer." She paused before grinning wickedly and standing up. He smiled up at her.

"I think my bad sense of humour is rubbing off on you." He commented.

"I don't know whether to be insulted or not." Betty smiled, showing that she was taking it in good humour. "I'll come back and check on you later alright?"

"Ok, an-" His sentence was interrupted by a yawn which he quickly stifled. "-and don't worry I'll be fine. Thanks for everything."

"Sure, well, I'll be back soon." Betty reassured him, before grabbing the first aid kit and sliding back to the Bugle's main newsroom. As soon as the door had slammed behind her, Spider-man forced his tired body to get up.

Betty never noticed Peter Parker slip down the stairwell from the roof and out of the Bugle offices, as her head was buried in the storage cupboard, trying to halt the rain of paperclips that she'd dislodged and swearing periodically as she caught her fingers on loose staples.

She'd finally got everything back where she _thought_ it should be, when she noticed something out of place. She picked up the small piece of notepaper and unfolded it hastily.

_Betty,_

_Thanks again, and it'll be easier to stop the paperclips falling on you if you pull the box of staples down first._

_Your friendly neighbourhood Spider-man_

She whipped round in shock, searching the newsroom for a hint of red and blue, but if ever there was, it was long gone.

**End of Part 3**

**The fight mentioned between Spidey and the Goblin could be the burning building one from SM1 and he just goes to Betty before Thanksgiving dinner, or it could be a completely separate occasion, take it as you will, it doesn't matter. Thank you for all the amazing reviews, they helped cheer me up. I think I'll reply to individual reviews next time if you don't mind. Thanks, please review and bye!**


	4. Practical Jokes and Familiar Faces

**Um, hi. Please don't kill me for not updating since, well, forever. I'm very very sorry, and I'm also very very sorry I haven't been reading or reviewing lately. My email inbox is stuffed to the top of author alerts so for that reason and others I won't be using author alert anymore and I'm going to try to go through all the great stories I've missed, though it could take a while. I could rant all day about all the things that have been happening in my life but I'm sure it wouldn't be very helpful to you nor me. So without further ado, I present to you (hey that rhymes) chapter 4. Again very sorry.**

**Smoking On The Rooftops**

**Part 4: Practical Jokes and Familiar Faces**

Spider-man sighed wistfully as he looked out across the beautiful city. Why was it always so peaceful here? He mused to himself. Here, above the home away from home of the enemy. Crime didn't seem to be that much of a problem when he came here, it was as if the criminals themselves had felt sorry for him and decided to give him a break. Raindrops fell lazily from the sky, the sun made them sparkle hypnotically and a rainbow was cast across the clouds to the right. Pigeons, the sky's version of sewer rats clucked peacefully nearby, scavenging the remains of what looked like a hotdog. The relative silence was suddenly shattered by a bloodcurdling scream and Spider-man nearly jumped out of his skin.

He leapt up, in full crime-fighting-mode with his stance low and ready, his arms up and in the webshooting position.

Betty Brant clutched her side to stop herself from splitting from laughter. Eventually she had to lean on the flagpole beside her as she calmed down enough to gasp out, "If only… on tape…" Then she burst into another round of giggles again.

Spider-man slowly lowered his wrists and managed to look distinctly indignant even with the red material hiding his face. He huffed and turned his back on her to look back at the sky, suppressing the grin that was tugging at the corners of his mouth.

Still chuckling, Betty came to stand beside him some minutes later. "I thought the Amazing Spider-man couldn't be sneaked up on." She said.

"I can't." He replied, still disgruntled.

"Then what was _that?_" She snorted.

"I can't be sneaked up on by my _enemies_," he clarified. "or anyone that poses a threat. You don't belong in either of those categories, thus, the sneaking up."

"Hey! What do you mean 'I don't pose a threat'? I'll have you know I took karate classes when I was a kid!" She exclaimed, her turn to be indignant.

"For how long?" he drawled, already knowing the answer from when they'd been an article in the Bugle about a scandal within the martial arts group in Tribecca, and he'd heard Betty say she'd used to go for karate lessons there.

She blushed. "Two weeks." She answered quietly and he grinned at her triumphantly.

Of course, she quickly changed the subject and reversed the spotlight onto himself.

"You know a lot about me now, let's hear more from you." She directed.

"Ok, what do you want to know?" he agreed cautiously. "Within reason." he quickly added as he saw a gleam creep into her eyes.

"Deal. Where do you live?" She shot at him so fast it made him dizzy.

"I said _within reason._" Spider-man reminded her.

"I don't need to know the specifics. For example: do you live in New York?"

"Yes." He said after some hesitation.

"Which part?"

"I'm not answering that!" He exclaimed.

"Fine, be like that." She huffed and turned away from him with her nose in the air.

For a while they didn't talk, until, "It must be hard being who you are." Betty mused.

"Sometimes." He said. "Sometimes you have to make sacrifices."

"Sacrifices?" She prompted him.

"Yeah. Like no drinking, no girls, no-"

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, hold it right there; what about that rumour of you and that Watson girl you saved at the World Unity Festival?" She interrupted, looking at him accusingly.

Spider-man paused. "That was just a rumour." He said finally, but his shoulders seemed to slump slightly. "Even if it wasn't, we could never be together. It'd put her in danger."

"Oh." Betty said simply. "I never thought about it really. But surely, she can take of herself? I mean it's up to her right?"

A note of bitterness in his voice he said, "Right, and she decided that matter pretty well when she went out with Ha…" He stopped himself quickly. "I shouldn't be telling you all this."

Betty knew not to press him and instead changed the subject. "So what was with you sneaking off before I even got chance to see you?" She said sternly.

"I felt better." Spider-man said truthfully. Then he smirked, cheering up some. "Besides I knew I'd never get away once your mother hen instincts had taken over."

She chose not to dignify that comment with an acknowledgement that it had been spoken and instead said, "And what was with the 'helpful' note _after_ I'd already got all the stationary back in place?"

"Hey, that's not my fault, you just _chose_ to read it _after_ you'd got everything sorted." He defended himself.

She just harrumphed; beaten yet again.

"What's got your feathers ruffled today then?" He asked.

Betty glanced at him sourly. "_Now_ I'm having a bad day," she informed him. "Bad work day, bad hair day-just bad everything."

"Oh." He said in reply. "Well I'm not going to disagree with the hair part…"

She stared at him, half amused and half offended. "You're supposed to say my hair looks great, by the way." She told him, trying to give him a stern look and not burst out laughing.

"I'm sorry, you're hair looks great. It must just be my eyes- yes that's it, I need an eye test." He said robotically. "How was that?" He asked a few seconds later.

"Never, and I mean _never,_ become an actor." She retorted, and smiled the first genuine smile all day. Peter smiled under his mask too, but for a different. Every single day of his life was an act.

Betty lit another cigarette and offered Spider-man one. He shook his head. "No thanks. You know I don't smoke."

"I figured," Betty replied sarcastically. "It was just a test to see if you could break the boy scout laws just for once."

"A-bu-wha!" Spider-man spluttered, and she laughed. "A boy scout! I am _not_ a boy scout thank you very much!"

"Oh yeah?" Betty quirked an eyebrow. "Then prove it."

"Prove it?" he repeated dubiously.

"Yeah. If you're not a good little boy scout, do something to prove it. Something wrong. Morally wrong and bad." She explained.

"Like what?" He said doubtfully.

"Oh, I don't know… you could go… spray paint a wall or someth-ahh!"

Betty's suggestion was cut off as Spider-man suddenly lunged at her and tickled her.

"Hey!" she gasped, giggling madly. "Stop it!"

Grinning, he sat back on his heels, looking extremely smug even with the mask on. "There ya go. Tickling a perfectly innocent lady who I've only known for a few days. That do?"

Betty glared at him and folded her coat around herself protectively. He tilted his head innocently. She gave in and laughed.

"How is it that you can make me smile?" She asked lazily as the conversation lulled.

"Maybe it's my wit? Or my charm? Or my roguish good looks?" Spider-man suggested and succeeded in getting her to laugh.

Smirking, she quirked an eyebrow. "You do realise I've never seen your face, right?"

"Whoever said you've never seen my face?" He retorted after a while, then before she could even form a reply, he jumped up and swung away, leaving an open-mouthed Betty Brant with quite a few things to chew on.

**End of Part 4**

**Sonicdale: I warned you there'd be no plot whatsoever! At least I think I did.. hmm... well I'm telling you now, there's no plot whatsoever! Lol and I plead artisctic license for betty only fixing one cut yet there being blood everywhere. About Spidey revealing his secret... he's hinted at it already so you'll ahve to wait and see! Thanks for your review!**

**Jenn1: Thanks, and MJ was in this part 'cause I couldn't find any other ideal place to put her. Yes, their friendship shall be improving!**

**Spyder616: Thanks, yeah people don't seem to realise how much it hurst when a pet dies. Well, Betty found the note, it must have come from somewhere lol!**

**C.D Anders: Nope I'm not dead! Just on a long hiatus so to speak. Thanks for reviewing!**

**Vaapad: Lol thanks! I'm just exaggerating Betty's less-than-friendly behavious towards Peter from the first film, makes it more interesting and angsty.**

**Moonjava: Thanks, I'm glad you think so.**

**Emily M. Hanson: Thanks, I hope this chapter wasn't too disappointing though.**

**Teri: No, now there's only one more chapter left. Thanks for the review!**

**Amber: Wow thanks! I'm surprised you think so.**

**jjonahjameson: Thank you!**

**LordLanceahlot: Aww I'm sorry to hear about you're hamster, it hurst a lot. Thanks for reviewing!**

**ashthedragon: Thanks, I really like Betty, she doesn't get enough recognition. And she's fun to write too.**

**betty brant: To be honest I don't know if the Goblin attack on the Bugle has happened yet or not, it doesn't really matter because it won't be mentioned, sorry. Yep, there is hope for her dream of investigative reporting, well, kind of... You'll see anyways. Ned Leeds won't be in it though we will meet someone else... I don't want to give away anymore. Thanks for the review, it meant a lot to me!**

**Jewel59: No you didn't review the first chapter, thanks for reviewing the second!**

**closetfan: I'm from and in England. I'll bet you don't chuckle half so much as I do when I read things like 'He pulled the phone from his pants.' (Pants are underwear in England) ;)**

**(I have no idea where that chapter came form, and I apologise profusely for it. cringes)**


	5. Not the End, But the Beginning

**Here's the last part, yes it's finally here! I'm so sorry I haven't put it up before now, I couldn't decide on whether to leave a couple of scenes in or not so I just procrastinated lol. This is my favourite part. Now I'm going to go hide before you kill me for not updating. Bye!**

**Smoking On The Rooftops**

**Part 5: Not the EndBut the Beginning**

Pens were scattered all over the place. Important papers were discarded carelessly. Ink spattered just about everything.

"Um, Betty?"

"I've got less than thirty seconds to spare so be quick, today is not going well." Betty said without sparing Peter a glance.

"I can see that." He told her, motioning to the disaster area that was her desk and smiling slightly. It was sufficient to say his attempt at humour was not well received.

He cheerfully offered her his portfolio anyway, and she froze and looked up, pausing as a strange expression crossed her face. After a split second though, she looked back down and took the folder from his hands, and handed him back his check slowly, eyes fixed on his arm as if it held the secret to world peace.

"Thanks." He said simply, wondering if he'd imagined the odd look in her eyes.

"Sure." Betty said faintly several seconds later, when Peter was already halfway across the room, having not expected any form of reply from her.

She'd spent the last week and a half since she'd learnt of Spider-man's confession scanning every man that she knew for a hint of Spider-man's personality, but had come up with nothing. Zilch. Zero. Nada. None of her few male friends, though some had the right build for a superhero, were nowhere near as intelligent and witty, or dorky if you preferred to look at it that way.

So then she'd resorted to searching through her old address book, looking up the bunch of muscular footballers she'd sometimes hung around with in High School, and even gone so far as to ring Mick Jones, the star player who thought the world of the beautiful game _and_ himself. She seriously doubted he'd be the heroic Spider-man she was searching for, but she was desperate and running out of options.

"Hey, Mick." Betty had greeted him nervously, receiving a friendly reply and a kiss on the cheek before she'd sat down in the chair across from him.

"I thought I might be getting a call from you sometime soon, actually." Mick had begun seriously, and for a wild moment Betty's heart had jumped into her throat. _Could it really be…?_

"You did?" She'd asked tremulously, almost willing him not to be Spider-man. He had opened his mouth to reply…. _No, don't say it… please don't let it be him… please…_

"Yeah, I heard you'd just been dumped by your loser boyfriend and wanted a little more excitement in your life." Mick had leered at her suggestively, grinning and giving her nose a front seat at the theatre of bad breath. Betty had recoiled with disgust, strangely a very happy feeling filling her at the same time.

"Then you heard wrong." She'd snapped and abruptly stood up and pulled on her coat, feeling disgusted with herself for even imagining for one second that that jerk could be Spider-man. She'd stalked to the door, and paused just before she opened it.

"And even if I _was _looking for excitement I certainly wouldn't come _here_." She'd gestured at the tacky Burger joint they were sitting in then abruptly yanked open the door and walked out, her head held high and a small self-satisfied smirk on her lips.

Walking home with her head held high, her thoughts had turned yet again to Spider-man. She'd had the feeling he'd told her that she'd seen his face before on a spur of the moment decision, and he certainly hadn't stuck around to talk afterwards. But what did that remark mean? Did she see him regularly, like everyday? She quickly dismissed that idea. She knew the people she saw everyday too well, so perhaps they'd only met once before, a long time ago, and he'd happened to remember her? No, no, he wouldn't remember her from just one meeting. Which left a guy she saw often but not _that_ often.

"Ok, Marcus, Wade, Jason…" She'd begun ticking off on her fingers, so caught up in her thoughts that at first she hadn't noticed that she'd stopped right outside a dodgy looking alleyway. She did notice when someone dragged her into that very alleyway and started pulling at her shirt.

"HEY!" She'd yelled, twisting round in the man's grasp only to see a very familiar face.

"Mick? What are you doing! _Get off me!_"

He had just narrowed his eyes determinedly and when she fought back he swung his heavy fist into her jaw, effectively muting her screams. Betty's eyes had watered from the pain and for a second she'd thought she was going to pass out when suddenly Mick disappeared. And he hadn't run off or anything either, he'd just… disappeared. Dispersed into thin air.

"Betty! Are you alright?" A masked face was suddenly peering into hers and she'd nodded dimly whilst simultaneously looking up to see Mick unconscious, wrapped, and hanging by his feet from a window ledge.

It was nearly two weeks after that particularly nasty incident when Betty and Spider-man's path's crossed again. Betty was already lounging in the glare of the setting sun and mulling things over when none other than Spider-man swung down from the skies. Startled, she pushed herself up onto one elbow as he took the vacant seat beside her.

"Hi." Spider-man greeted her.

"Hi." She replied, and sat up fully. "You're here early."

"Not much to do today. Compared to other days, that is." He informed her. "How about you? Written the article of the year yet?" He grinned cheekily at her.

"Not yet, but I'm planning to." She answered gamely.

"Better get started soon then, I hear the competition's fierce." He commented.

"Oh it is. Thing is, I'm fiercer." She replied flippantly, getting into the swing of their usual banter.

"That so?" Spider-man said and nodded. "Well, I must admit I wouldn't like to get on your bad side." He lay down beside her on his back, looking up at the velveteen orangey red sky.

Betty took a deep breath, calming her nerves, then just spat it out. "But you already have been, haven't you Peter?"

Spider-man shot up and his head snapped round to look at her carefully. "What?" He rasped.

"You heard me." She answered confidently. "I must admit, it's a clever disguise. And I'm not talking about the mask. No one would ever even begin to think that you and Peter Parker are one and the same."

"That so?" He said again, not sure what else to say. He hesitated for a long while before nervously saying, "So, uh, how did you figure it out?"

Betty stared at him. She hadn't expected it would be so easy to force a confession out of him, but then she realised that he'd been setting her up with clues all along the way. He wanted her to find out. Maybe not consciously, but deep down he'd wanted her to know.

"Ah. Well I had help." She finally said.

"Help?" He repeated dubiously, trying to stop his voice from squeaking the way it did when he was panicking. _How many other people knew? _"Who from?"

"Why, you, of course." Betty replied as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.

"Me?" He said, astonished.

"Yes, _you_ Peter." She smiled at him. "I could never have worked it out without you."

"Without me there'd be nothing _to_ work out." Peter shot back and she laughed lightly.

"Ya see? Now only that kind of remark could come from you. You're one of a kind." Betty told him.

"Well, I won't disagree with that." He admitted, becoming more comfortable with her knowing who was under the mask. He shifted from his tense position into a more relaxed one. "There's not many maniacs running around out there in red and blue spandex."

"No," She agreed, smiling, "there's not. It's surreal. I thought I could find out your identity by looking up all my old school friends, those big shots with big muscles who ended up working in big Burger joints like old Mick in McDonalds over there, when really it was right in front of me. It only took a foot long scar to work that out." She smiled mirthlessly, and Peter rolled up his sleeve, realising just when and where he'd given the game away.

"Bit too careless, huh?" He said, staring at the oddly shaped lines of red skin and remembering how Betty had stared at that spot earlier that very morning.

"Everyone makes mistakes sometimes." Betty said. She paused for a long time, and Peter had the sense that she wanted to say more so stayed quiet. "I… I want to apologise to you. Both of you. I treated Peter like… dirt, less than dirt, and… and to then treat the other half of you like I did… in contrast, I don't know how you stood it. I really don't. I thought I had everything figured out, and it's only now I realise how wrong I was. You're a great guy, but I was so blindsided by the red and blue that I couldn't see it. I guess now I do, and well… would you like to start afresh?"

Peter took in her words and quickly came to a decision. "You know what? In the last few weeks I've come to know you, and I mean really know you, I've had a revelation."

"What's that?" Betty asked nervously, half of her not wanting to know the answer.

"You're not so bad yourself." He grinned mischievously then held out his hand. "Hi, I'm Peter Parker, aka the maniac in red and blue spandex."

She took it and shook firmly, a huge smile lighting up her face. "Betty Brant. Nice to meet you."

"Oh don't worry, the pleasure is all mine." Peter replied and Betty playfully punched him on the arm, both smiling.

**Fin**

**Gah that was a lame ending. Sorry to deceive you with the chapter title but it really is the end lol. I had a great time writing this story because unlike most of my other fics I didn't have the plot mapped out from start to finish, I just pretty much put pen to paper and waited to see where it took me. I think I'll do that more often.**

**Thank you so much for the reviews everyone! Believe it or not authors use reviews as fuel to write more, so thanks for the encouragement! Sorry I have no plans for a sequel at the moment, I've been writing a lot of Smallville stuff lately though I'm working (very slowly) on a oneshot Peter/MJ fic. **

**Anyways, I hope you enjoyed reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it, if you did, please review!**


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